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catalyst

noun
/ˈkæt.ɪ.lɪst/UK/ˈkæt.ə.lɪst/CA/ˈkɛt.ə.ləst/

Etymology

From catalysis + -ist.

  1. derived from κατάλυσις
  2. suffixed as catalyst — “catalysis + ist”

Definitions

  1. A substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the…

    A substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process.

    • Enzymes, the catalysts of biological systems, are remarkable molecular devices that determine the pattern of chemical transformations.

  2. Something that encourages progress or change.

    • Economic development and integration are working as a catalyst for peace.
    • It was a morning baptized by my first cup of coffee, freshly brewed over a gravel-bar fire, while they celebrated with the stronger catalyst of sour-mash whiskey in their fishing-vest cups.
    • Israel's fear for the reactor—rather than Egypt's of it—was the greater catalyst for war.

  3. An inciting incident that sets the successive conflict into motion.

    • The current view by both Labour and Conservative politicians is that the state of the UK railway is unsustainable, and the pandemic acted as a catalyst in exposing its weaknesses.
  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. A catalytic converter.

    2. An object that facilitates the casting of a spell (such as a magic wand).

The neighborhood

Derived

Adams's catalyst, catalyse, catalyze, catalysis, catalytic, Grubbs' catalyst, Lindlar catalyst, phase-transfer catalyst, stereospecific catalyst, triphase catalyst, Vandenberg catalyst, Ziegler catalyst, Ziegler-Natta catalyst

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for catalyst. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA